It’s Thursday, which also means, if you want to break out your Old English lingo, it’s Thorsday. Naturally, this makes for the perfect date for a rewatch of Thor: Ragnarok (2017). Director Taika Waititi took to Instagram to provide a live commentary of the film, with special guests including Tessa Thompson and Mark Ruffalo. In true Waititi fashion, his commentary was less of a typical breakdown of the film and more of an impromptu Q&A punctuated by glib responses, non-sequiturs and accents. In fact, very little of what went down focused on Ragnarok, as Waititi moved about his house, finishing his dinner preparation — a rack of lamb and potatoes, while Ragnarok played in the background on his laptop, mostly out of focus. Nonetheless, the filmmaker did drop a few tidbits about the next sequel, Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see Chris Hemsworth reprise his role as the God of Thunder, alongside castmates Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, who will become a Thor of her own, and Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie, who is settling into her new role as the ruler of Asgard.
Waititi began his live stream with a look at some concept art for the larva-like alien Miek in Love and Thunder. Thor’s recent compatriot and former flat-mate, as seen in Avengers: Endgame (2019), will receive a new suit of body armor in the film. The helmer also revealed that the character is female and showed another rendering of the character in a pencil-skirt, which may or may not have been a joke. Underneath the concept art was a joke script for Love and Thunder that featured the return of Tony Stark from the dead. Waititi also revealed that Miek’s compatriot, Korg, whom the director also portrays, will have a larger role in the sequel with elements of his culture and possibly his love life set to be explored.
Heat Vision breakdown
Another glimpse of concept art depicted a look at New Asgard, formally the Norwegian village of Tonsberg. Earth and Asgardian architecture have merged together, and a fleet of Viking ships looked ready for Valkyrie command. Waititi and Thompson were mum on Valkyrie’s role in Love and Thunder, but the filmmaker did offer some brief commentary on a few other characters fans have been curious about. Waititi admitted that he’s a fan of Beta Ray Bill, but wasn’t sure if he would appear in the pic, though he later mentioned that he was on the fifth or sixth draft of the script. He confirmed that Silver Surfer will not be in the film, but wouldn’t comment on who Christian Bale was portraying. Similarly, his lips were sealed on whether Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, set for his own Disney+ show, will show up in the movie.
In terms of the direction of Thor: Love and Thunder, Waititi told Thompson that it was 10 times bigger than Ragnarok and it felt like the film was just a list of things a 10-year-old would ask for and he’d said yes to everything. One of those high-concept ideas born of juvenile cool is space sharks, known in Marvel Comics as Starsharks. While these aliens, created by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, first appeared in 1982's Uncanny X-Men No. 162, they were featured prominently in Jason Aaron’s Thor run, which is said to be Love and Thunder’s primary influence. In Aaron’s run, Thor not only rode a Starshark, but used one as a hammer in a battle against his future selves and the God-Butcher, Gorr. Is it possible that along with Jane Foster’s Thor, we’ll also see a future version of Thor, one who has accepted the mantle of the All-Father? Waititi didn’t say much about Thor’s appearance in the upcoming film, but did say that “Fat Thor” seemed like something that was done and over. But if Hemsworth doesn’t want to step too far away from prosthetics just yet, Old Thor seems like a viable possibility. Starsharks, Valkyrie, Multiple Thors and more insanity will be before our eyes when Thor: Love and Thunder crashes into theaters Feb. 18, 2022.
